This week, President Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2018 (FY18) and federal IT contractors should note the changes it brings for them. We commend the Senate and House’s continued commitment to acquisition reform, adopting innovative technologies to help warfighters meet their missions, and improving oversight of cybersecurity. While no single provision can [...]

“Regular order” for government funding used to mean a systematic cadence of work by the appropriations committees and both chambers of Congress to fashion a spending bill before the start of the new fiscal year. I’ve been around Washington long enough to remember regular order in action and to see the fruits of that process. Unfortunately, “regular order” for the appropriations process has come to [...]

America and technological innovation are synonymous. From revolutionizing society with the internet, to the smartphones providing us apps that drive our day, to the microchips powering the device you are using now to read this blog, the private sector in the United States has consistently maintained an edge against foreign competition when it comes to innovation. This success, however, is not guaranteed. [...]

The IT Alliance for Public Sector (ITAPS) recently sent a letter outlining our concerns with California’s A.B. 1546, a bill that would create a statutory mandate for the California Department of Technology (CDT) to develop a standardized contractor performance assessment to evaluate the performance of a contractor on certain information technology (IT) projects. While we support the need for accountability [...]

Today, on behalf of the IT Alliance for Public Sector (ITAPS), a division of tech trade group ITI, I will testify before the California Senate Rules Committee hearing in favor of the confirmation of Amy Tong as the California State Chief Information Officer and Director of the California Department of Technology (CDT). Under Tong’s leadership, CDT has undergone improvements to provide increased transparency [...]

Too often in the broader cybersecurity discussion the fact is lost that state and local governments are some of the most vulnerable and sought after targets of cybercrime. While much of the discussion focuses on securing federal systems and data, what government officials must keep in mind is that states and localities manage an exceptional amount of personally identifiable information that by all [...]

“Buy America.” Sounds good when you say it, but despite being well-intentioned, such policies simply do not reflect the reality of the modern marketplace and can ultimately serve to do more harm than good for American workers and our economy. That is why the IT Alliance for Public Sector (ITAPS) recently joined 30 business associations representing companies across several industry sectors to urge [...]

The Department of Defense’s DFARS Network Penetration and Contracting for Cloud Services rule continues to be problematic. That is why the IT Alliance for Public Sector (ITAPS) sent a letter to Department of Defense requesting the Department host a public technical forum to resolve the many questions and concerns identified by our industry in trying to implement a Final Rule. The rule requires contractors [...]

The start of the 115th Congress and the upcoming inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump on January 20th present Washington with the opportunity to address the economic concerns voiced by voters last November. These concerns in part propelled the president-elect’s victory and resulted in Republican control of both the House and Senate. The tech industry will play a critical role in driving the [...]

The conventional wisdom in Washington always holds to not expect much from divided government, and those expectations only lower heading into a presidential election year because hyper-partisanship can turn the landscape into frozen tundra. But for every rule there is an exception. Despite the fierce headwinds, issues that are important to the technology industry cut across party lines to find common [...]